The Fate of Marxism in Russia

280 Pages·1993·17.377 MB·English

by  Alexander Yakovlev

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One of the architects of perestroika meets Marxism on its own intellectuai
turf and beats it.”—Oames A. Baker, III, 61st Secretary of State
HE FATE OF
IN RUSSI
THE FATE OF FIRRXISn IH RRSSIR
Rlexandef Tahiivlty
Introduction by Thomas F. Remington
Foreword by Alexander Tsipko
Translated from the Russian by Catherine A.
Fitzpatrick
Alexander Yakovlev, a major architect of
perestroika and a leading sponsor of glasnost,
was a senior Soviet official who worked at
the highest echelon of government side by side
with Mikhail Gorbachev. In this powerful book,
Yakovlev acknowledges the decay of his coun¬
try and reveals his painful intellectual and
political odyssey as he progressed from stal¬
wart Party ideologist and propagandist to
disillusioned critic of Marxism and communism.
Yakovlev vividly describes the ways that
Marxism has proven to be not only wrong but
ruinous to Russia, as it demolished civil society
and ruthlessly replaced it with immorality and
state-supported atheism. He discusses the per¬
vasive, historical roots of the Russian “author¬
itarian consciousness” that helps explain
why Russian society was so susceptible to the
totalitarian implications of Marxism. He de¬
scribes the triumvirate structure of power in the
USSR before and during perestroika, the
political reforms that were initiated, the ways
that Soviet attitudes toward glasnost and
perestroika evolved in both the reformist and
conservative wings of the Party, and the
reasons for the seemingly final swift collapse
of the old ruling structures—the crushing defeat
of the Party—in August 1991.
Assessing the situation in Russia now that
Marx’s teachings and the Communist Party
have been rejected, Yakovlev warns that if the
economic situation worsens further, Russian
society will be prepared to sacrifice democracy
for even modest economic growth. He urges
the restructuring of Soviet society on a new

The Fate of Marxism in Russia
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2018 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.0rg/details/fateofmarxisminrOOOOiako
The Fate of Marxism
in Russia
Alexander Yakovlev
Translated from the Russian by
Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
Yale University Press
New Haven and London
Copyright © 1993 by Alexander Yakovlev.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including
illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by
Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by
reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the
publishers.
Designed by Deborah Dutton.
Set in Sabon text and Gill Sans display type by The Composing Room
of Michigan.
Printed in the United States of America by Vail-Ballou Press,
Binghamton, New York.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
lAkovlev, A. N. (Aleksandr Nikolaevich)
[Predislovie—obval—posleslovie. English]
The fate of Marxism in Russia / Alexander Yakovlev ;
translated from the Russian by Catherine A. Fitzpatrick,
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-300-05365-7 (alk. paper)
1. Soviet Union—Politics and government—rl985-1991.
2. Communism—Soviet Union. 3. Democracy—Soviet
Union. 1. Title.
DK288.I1813 1993
320.947—dc20 93-24955
CIP
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and
durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book
Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
10 987654321
Contents
Introduction
Alexander Yakovlev and the Limits of Reform
by Thomas F. Remington
vii
Foreword to the Russian Edition
The Truth Is Never Late
by Alexander Tsipko
XV
Chapter I
Prelude
Chapter 2
The Collapse
66
Chapter 3
Aftermath
100
Contents VI
Appendix I
Social Alternatives of the Twentieth Century
Lecture delivered at Columbia University,
November 15, 1991
171
Appendix 2
Bolshevism as a Phenomenon
Lecture delivered at Harvard University,
November 17, 1991
189
Appendix 3
Democracy, Russia, the Third Way
Lecture delivered at Princeton University,
November 21, 1991
205
Appendix 4
Ethics and Reformation
Speech delivered at the International Conference
“After 1991: Capitalism and Ethics,” at the Vatican,
January 14, 1992
224
Appendix 5
Monopoly, Morality, and Common Sense
Speech delivered at Oxford University,
January 29, 1992
231
Index
241